Gov. Gives Effect of Bill (KS)

August 23, 2010

In response to the state receiving federal match money for Medicaid (FMAP) and for local school districts, Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson has started to take action.

On Friday, Parkinson sent a letter to state legislative leaders addressing what will need to be done during the 2011 Legislative session because of the passage of the federal jobs bill.

“This aid is critical for Kansas to not only maintain our balanced budget, but continue with our economic recovery,” wrote Parkinson. “The Legislature adopted an FY 2011 budget that included $131 million in continued aid from the federal government. Thanks to the recent actions by Congress, Kansas will receive approximately $40-$50 million more than what was anticipated for the budget.”

Parkinson sent his letter to members of the Legislative Coordinating Council and the Legislative Budget Committee, the letter calls on the legislature t o pass a revised FY 2011 budget to replace State General Fund allocations to education with funds given through the federal Education Jobs Fund.

Then the State General Funds can be dedicated to fully fund the Medicaid program as originally approved by the legislature.

Should revenues be less than estimated for FY 2011, then the additional funding Kansas is set to receive from the federal government can be used to help manage the budget.

Kansas will receive an estimated $85 million from the FMAP extension and $92.5 million from the Education Jobs Fund. The assistance from the federal jobs bill is less than what Congress originally proposed and what the legislature included in the state budget, which would have given Kansas approximately $131 million.

However, with the Education Jobs Fund and the appropriate legislative action as laid out by Parkinson, he said the state budget will remain in balance.

Parkinson said that staff from the Division of the Budget, Legislative Research Department, and Medicaid agencies will meet this fall to update caseload estimates. He said, at that time, the FMAP extension can be updated and the funding can be used as anticipated.

“We will continue to monitor revenues closely, as we expect to have the normal ups and downs of month-to-month revenue collections coming out of this recession,” Parkinson said. “However, with this new federal aid, the Kansas FY 2011 budget is balanced.”

With school district funding, Parkinson said that districts will experience “no program reductions” from the switch in funding.